Another Year Older, Another Year Wiser

It is true. With each year, we grow.

We learn. We learn what it means to be alive. Some think that we are growing into adulthood. To me, this implies something. This implies that we are measured on a maturity level, based on how many years we are old.

If this be so, than with every birth date that comes around, we are that much closer to "adulthood", we are that much closer to becoming the chaperon, the responsible one, the leader.

But shouldn't your growth be measured on experiences?

How you handled those experiences, what they taught you, how you implemented those things you have learned?

Aren't qualities such as loyalty, leadership, perseverance, acceptance, and respect, character traits for people of all ages?

I am an adult, not because I have reached the brink of my years as a teen, but because of the wisdom I have gathered while surviving those years.

I should be held accountable for my actions, not because I am of a legal age, but because I am of a sound mind.

Perfection in no way comes in your life time, adult and child alike.

You will make mistakes, learning from them is key.

Remember your neighbor before yourself, not because you'll feel good afterwards, but because you know if you were in there shoes, you would want assistants.

Embrace unlikeminded people. No one thinks exactly like you, no one.

Finally, when you stumble and fall, realize what you tripped on and vow never to let it happen again.

Everyone falls, a true leader knows that.